


The Story of Jorvik

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-09
Updated: 2018-02-09
Packaged: 2019-03-15 21:01:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13621605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: In the beginning, there was a girl.





	The Story of Jorvik

Once upon a time, there was a girl. Her nature has often been debated, with some saying that she existed, others saying that she is a personification of the creation of the land, and still others saying that she was a goddess. Others, still, say that she was an alien. But, whichever side of the argument you believe in, the truth is that there was some kind of force, and perhaps it was a girl on horseback, who brought Jorvik out of the ocean when she crashed down to earth on either a spaceship or a horse. For the sake of this story, let’s just say that she was a goddess.

In the beginning, there was darkness. But in this particular beginning, there was no deity declaring ‘let there be light’. No, contrary to popular belief, there was no such fanfare with the creation of this island that we live on. Instead, the light came from the sky in a blazing streak, impacting the small bit of stone that stuck out of the water. The impact caused the water spreading out from the impact site to rush away, revealing a barren landscape. And, though nobody was watching, once the dust cleared, a girl stumbled out onto the land, the water up to her ankles, and checked herself for any damage. Nobody knew the girl’s name, of course, nor did they know what she said. Some would say that she cursed, others that she mourned the barren rock on which she had landed.

(“What did we hit?” her horse groaned, getting to his hooves and shaking. He extended his large white wings, shaking the water off of them, and ran his horn down Aideen’s body to check for injuries. Finding none, he instead set to complaining about the water that soaked into his fetlocks.

“Hell if I know,” said Aideen. “But I don’t like it. I’m a creation goddess so c’mon, Araxa, let’s create!” And, jumping onto her noble white stallion’s back, Aideen set off across the island that she’d just discovered.) 

As she rode across the island, holding a burning white stone in her hand (“I can’t see a thing” “Then use your Light” “What happened to ‘it’s a super-powerful, ultra important artefact that we should treat with the utmost care’?” “Look, I’d rather not gallop headlong into the water and plummet to my watery grave” “Alright, alright”), a great change took over the island. It began to rise up out of the water, the very bottom of the ocean quaking with the might of the creation goddess at work. And, by the Light of Aideen, life began spreading over the island, trees and grass and other plants growing where before there had only been lifeless rock.

And, when the large land mass had finally been terraformed to Aideen’s liking, valleys being formed from her horse’s hooves and mountains being shaped by her hands, Aideen stood upon the highest peak in Jorvik, looked upon her land, and smiled.

For centuries, Jorvik was a peaceful land. Aideen created not only land but also other, smaller creatures, and great beasts modelled after her Araxa for the humans to befriend and ride. Seeing the way that her land prospered filled Aideen with a great sense of happiness, and so she left, returning to the heavens from which she had come.

The stories of the Great Darkness are as many and varied as the stories of when Aideen first created Jorvik. But what all of the stories can agree on is this: After Aideen returned to the heavens from which she had come, the land of Jorvik was peaceful only for a few years. And then, the darkness came.

It started in much the same way as Aideen had arrived. A large object, which some called a meteor, crashed to the earth, though this one landed in the ocean, upsetting and killing many of the ocean creatures who lived there. Some were shunted into another dimension, splashing a relaxing Aideen with water. She looked up, annoyed at the water that had splashed across her while she tried to relax in the pink Pandorian landscape.

The first few people who ventured out to investigate the oddity were never seen or heard from again. As such, nobody knows what happened.

(“What is that?” asked Ilyra, frowning in confusion at the debris that she could see floating on the surface of the water. It was unlike any material that she had ever seen before, like steel but not quite. It looked too shiny, almost seeming to glow, despite the charred and twisted shapes of it.

“Be careful, Ilyra,” her husband, Bengte, warned as she leaned out of their boat and over the water. Something stirred the surface of the water, but, before either human could react, large, thick tentacles reached up and grabbed them, dragging them under, leaving behind only fading screams and a small boat that rocked gently in the waves.)

Some days after the crash, the first school of fish washed up dead on the shore. Larger aquatic animals soon followed. It was said that sirens lived around Jorvik at the time of Aideen’s Light, wicked creatures that lured sailors to their deaths with their song or their alluring good looks. But they were seen as simply a pest.

After the Dawn of Darkness, however, the sirens came to be seen as a real threat. They learned to take on the form of humans, led by a man who went by the name of Sangordah. Before the Darkness, this man had been a simple fisherman, one who had kept mostly to himself. But now, one look from this man could strike anyone dead. He and his three female accomplices came to be known as the Four Horsemen, though that is history being sexist, as it was really one Horseman and three Horsewomen. Regardless, the four of them spread death, disease, war, and famine wherever they went. Crops and flocks died, herds of horses were left dead in the pastures, even the grass itself began to turn brittle. Fires were not uncommon in this reign of Darkness.

Garnok, as the creature was called according to the Horsepeople, had trapped Jorvik in its grip, and was not going to let go. It strangled Jorvik of the life that Aideen had blessed it with, turning it once more into a barren wasteland.

But, though many died in this dark time, a few patches of people remained. One of the bigger groups included a few strange-looking creatures, creatures with the bodies of men but the legs and heads of horses. They were known as the Horse People, not to be confused with centaurs (though many depictions have depicted them as such). But the leader of this group was a rather strange creature, a blue squirrel by the name of Fripp.

“We must seek Aideen,” said Fripp. “Pray to her, seek her guidance, ask her to return to us and help us.” For the people of Jorvik had told Fripp of the goddess or alien who had created their island and often walked among them before she had disappeared.

And so the people prayed, and Aideen heard. But alas, she could not save her people at first. Garnok had invaded even Pandoria, its tentacles destroying the landscape that Aideen called home. She battled it, using all of her power simply to stop it from destroying this land, too. With its might, it managed to break up the land into floating islands. Aideen wept as the land floated away from her, despite Araxa’s mighty efforts to stop the tentacles. But for every tentacle that was blasted by Aideen’s or Araxa’s magic, another wrapped around a part of the land and broke it off.

The prayers of the last surviving tribe of Jorvegians reached Aideen’s ears as she sat huddled in one of the many caves of Pandoria, tears streaming down her cheeks. She could only save one land, it seemed.

“Someday, I will return,” said Aideen, touching the walls of her safe haven as she closed her eyes. Her powers were depleted, and she knew that if she left Pandoria now, she would never return. Her visions had warned her of this, just as they had kept her informed of everything that Garnok was doing to her most precious creation. She saw horses and people fall before Garnok and its Generals, saw the land die because she was not there to save it.

And so, though it pained her greatly to do so, Aideen left Pandoria for the very last time, flying on the back of her Araxa.

The people of Jorvik were almost blinded by the light of Aideen returning, but they were glad to see her, nonetheless. The Horse People were quite surprised to see the goddess sitting on the back of her horse which stood on the water, the waves lapping around his hooves, but they made no mention of it.

“Aideen,” said Fripp, bowing to her. The Horse People, too, bowed, joining the people of Jorvik in going to one knee on the shore. And Aideen smiled, despite the tears on her cheeks.

“My people, I have heard your cries for help,” said Aideen. “Fear not, for I shall help you. However, I will need four of you to step forward: Starlisa, Tinalex, Metlin, and Anca.” The four Horse People stepped forward, one with fur of white and mane of red, one with fur and hair the same shade of gold, one with fur of chestnut, hair of brown, and skin the same shade as the hair, and one with grey fur, blonde hair, and pale skin. Aideen held out her harp, which glowed with power. “Starlisa, step forward and grasp the other end of my harp.”

As the Horse Person did so, Aideen felt her power instantly drain. “Starlisa, I grant you the power of the Stars. May you heal and bring life, wherever you go.” She did the same with the rest of them, feeling her power disappear, piece by piece, as she gave it away to these four creatures whom she knew would save Jorvik from the wrath of Garnok. 

For several days afterwards, the Horse People learned, with Aideen’s guidance, how to use their newfound powers. Metlin, their Seer, learned how to use their visions to spy on the enemy, even learning how to induce visions. Starlisa learned how to heal anything from minor wounds to death. Tinalex honed their skills until they were ready to fight Garnok and its Generals to the death. And Anca had the honour of checking in on Pandoria, as well as learning how to use their connection to Pandoria in order to detect rifts. Many rifts were closed in this way, and the deadly Shadow Seekers destroyed by Tinalex.

At last, the final battle was to take place. Metlin had discovered where the Generals were based, and led them there with the help of Anca. For, in travelling through Pandoria, great leagues could be crossed due to the massive difference between the two places. Two islands in Pandoria could lead to either side of the island of Jorvik, for example, and the top of one island in Pandoria could be the bottom of a valley in Jorvik.

As the four Soul Riders, as Aideen had named them, faced up against Garnok, Aideen waited patiently, for her powers were limited and only to be used in the utmost emergency.

Working together, the four Soul Riders managed to take down Garnok, lightning flashing from Soul Strike and pink blasts coming from both Starlisa and Anca. Even Metlin could blast pure moonbeams from their palms in addition to forseeing the enemy’s every move. Aideen was slightly alarmed to see the Generals dissipate into nothingness while their magic returned to the sea. But she dared not dive down to see where the physical bodies were.

Once Garnok was weakened, Aideen showed them how to combine their magic to seal the dark creature into its ship. The creature screamed, an unearthly sound that made the ears of every mortal bleed, but Aideen pushed through the pain and used the last of her magic to push Garnok down into the depths of the ocean and into the wreckage of the ship. She saw the four seals of the Soul Riders glow brightly on the ship, even through the water, and was glad to see that the prison would hold for at least a century.

As she disappeared, Aideen was glad that at least, with the Soul Riders, Jorvik would be safe from harm. Even if she could no longer return to her home, or to anywhere.

Where Aideen went, nobody can say. But there have been some theories, which will be addressed in another volume of The Story of Jorvik. What I can say for sure is that, in leaving the Soul Riders to care for Jorvik, Aideen ensured that the island, her most beloved creation, would be safe forevermore.


End file.
